On the Outside Looking In
by Chaimera
Summary: Nine. The relationship between the Doctor and Rose is seen from a different perspective.


**Disclaimer: I don't own it! Sigh. If I did, there'd be some changes, by God. You know what I'm talking about. But, alas... **

So, this is to keep me, and those who have been asking for another chapter of 'Cross Fire' going until I get it up and yes, it is coming. I'm in the middle of exams and then I'm going away a day after that so when I do write, it tends to be on random highlycaffeinated plot bunnies. Not an atmosphere conductive to keeping acoherent plot, so I didn't want to risk writing the next chapter 'till my head was clear.

Umm... yeah so, this is just something small that attacked at about two am. I am living in permanent denial so don't be expecting any post regeneration fics from me any time soon. This is un-beta-ed so any spelling and grammar mistakes(Lord and you guys know I'm bad) are mine and mine alone.

**On the Outside Looking in **

By Chaimera

I couldn't miss her when she walked in. So pretty. So obviously not from around here. Someone like her hanging about on a dive like this. Nahh. She didn't belong. Her clothes were retro. Jeans and a vest top. Her jacket was slung over her arm, obviously the heat had become too much for her outside. Well, Venus was never known to be very hospitable. Always stormy, always too hot.

I watched her as she breathed a sigh of relief, stepping into the dingy light of the bar and the relative cool of the building. Her big brown eyes swept the scene, skimming over the inhabitants of the corners and bar stools. Her hair was blonde. Dyed of course, not unusual for these parts but she wasn't the usual whore or mercenary you see around here. Now don't get me wrong. She wasn't innocent. Not by any standards. Looked like she'd seen too much. Too much for her age. Couldn't be more than twenty without surgery. No, she wasn't innocent but she had an air of… I dunno. I suppose, she looked like someone you'd trust and you don't trust many 'round these parts. I watched her as she walked up to the bar, eyes straight ahead. No eye contact with any of the other customers. Yeah, she's definitely been to a place like this before. Knows how to handle herself. Doesn't fit on her. She placed herself on a bar stool and waited for the bar tender to turn his attention to her. It'd be a while. It was a busy night. Well, a pretty face in need of company is in need of me. That's what I always say. I wandered up and sat myself next to her. Not even a side ways glance. Why do the good ones always play hard to get? I shifted my stool a little closer to hers and looked at her.

"Buy you a drink?"

Her brown eyes slid sideways, giving me a wary glance before returning her gaze to the bar man who was serving a rather ugly looking Fulgar across the bar. Not that all Fulgar's are particularly attractive, but this one had more dripping pustules than I'd seen in awhile.

She waved a cred stick at me and I caught sight of the 'unlimited' symbol.

"No thanks. I'm good."

Always did like a woman who could look after herself but you didn't see people with that much money in this neck of the proverbial woods. She stood out even more. So, instead I signalled T'janki, the bar man and friend to serve us next and he obliged.

She ordered a Selvaken whiskey. Normally a mans drink considering the strength. I decided to go native and just stuck with the local beer. Tastes like piss, but you wont remember much the next morning. And its cheap. She eyed my beer a little distastefully before staring into the depths of her purple drink.

"So, what's a pretty, wealthy girl like you doing in a place like this?"

She raised a slightly amused eyebrow and took a sip of her drink, muttering something like "Eight thousand years and they still haven't thought up any better pick up lines."

I stared at her strangely and she gave a little smirk, shaking her head.

I shifted slightly as a giant blob of… something, slimed past us.

"So, what are you doing here? Doesn't look like your natural habitat to me."

"And how exactly would you know what my natural habitat was?"

"Well, for one, you're not dressed for the weather on these parts…"

"I just got here."

"And you're not a prostitute…"

"Excuse me?"

"A junkie…"

"I should hope not."

"Or a mercenary of any kind. Therefore, not your natural habitat."

"You work that out all by yourself?"

"Yeah"."

"Well done."

For her, that seemed to be the end of our conversation, and she returned her attention to her drink. I had other plans.

"So, from your accent, I'd say Earth, England. London maybe?"

"Give the man a prize."

She was still speaking to the whiskey.

"And the clothes, well, usually I'd place them early twenty first century, but since that isn't possible…"

"Ahh, but who says?" She was looking at me now, with those big browns, a knowing smirk on her face.

"Well, unless you've got a time machine..."

She laughed. A great, infectious laugh, and smiled at me, her tongue just sticking through her teeth.

"What's so funny?"

She laughed again a patted my hand. "Thanks for that, I needed a laugh."

"…ok. So, who are you?"

"No one really. Not of any importance. Just passing through. Travelling."

"So, what? You work on a cruiser? Cargo ship? Journalist crew?"

"None of the above. Just travelling."

"Then you must have some wealthy parents. All that money and no job."

"No. My parents they… she…she's not around at the moment. Just me and my… friend."

Ahh, shot down. I should have read that look in her eyes. Obsessed. Obsessed with another. Her 'friend' had obviously had a fight. Well, I never could resist a damsel in distress. Or I just never knew what was good for me. So I asked.

"Well, go on then. What happened?"

She frowned at me. Very cute. "What?"

"Well, you and this 'friend', boyfriend, girlfriend, whatever, have obviously had a bit of an upset. So go on then, tell me all about it."

She scowled at me and I swear to God, she growled. Last time I heard a sound like that come out of a woman's mouth, well, I won't go into details. Anyway, she downed her entire drink and signalled for another. Her head was going to hurt in the morning. Take it from someone who knows. Her drink came and she stared angrily into it.

"He accused me of being human! And too domestic! Can you fucking believe it?"

"Um, correct me if I'm wrong but, you are human."

"Exactly. I mean, it's not something new. He's always teasing me about that."

"So what's different this time? What's got you so angry?"

"It's just, I got us into a bit of trouble. Nothing unusual and when it was all over he… It was just the way said it. Like I was something…"

She swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand and when she looked back up I could see the unshed tears.

"The way he said it. Like an accusation. Like I was something disgusting. Like I was nothing. Never heard that from him before. He was angry I know, and when he gets like that he can loose his head a bit, but its not usually at me is all."

"Close, are you?"

"Yeah." Another unhealthy gulp of alcohol.

"Are you in love with him?"

She smiled grimly. "Hopelessly. 'S all his fault of course. When I first met him, no sense of personal space."

She said this as if it explained everything. I really didn't get it.

"Is it worth this though? Drowning your sorrows in the strongest alcohol this side of the galaxy?"

She gave me another grim smile. "Yeah. He's worth it. I'd sacrifice the world for him. He'd do the same for me. Has done."

"Eh?"

She waved the odd remark off. "Never mind. Let's just say he'd do a lot for me. Dunno why he puts up with me sometimes. Dunno why I put up with him, but we do."

I had the feeling this was a little deeper than I'd initially anticipated. This was no dead beat alien boyfriend I was being told about. Sounded more like soul mates really.

More than I'd ever experienced. Fascinating. Utterly incomprehensible, but fascinating none the less.

"So, why did you go with him in the first place? What made him so… irresistible?"

She laughed again at that. That proper, happy laugh that I'd heard earlier. Lucky bugger, who ever he was.

"He gave me an offer I couldn't refuse."

"And what was that?"

She smiled and tapped her nose. Didn't know what that meant and it looked like I wasn't going to find out because she was staring into her glass again. I was loosing her to the purple liquor.

"So, um, what was the trouble then? What mess did you get yourselves into?"

At this her face lit up. Apparently she like telling stories of her adventures.

"Well, we were on this planet right. Trgof-en-lass, or something like that. Anyway, we were on this planet and they have this weird aristocracy, 'cept all the women were enslaved. I got caught by the king guy and the Doctor came and saved me, 'cept I'd been talking to some of the women in that weird harem place and I wanted to help them. He said we couldn't do anything, but I went off anyway.  
"There was this really sweet girl in there called Sarina and I just couldn't leave her there. Anyway, I sort of got caught again and was put up for execution. It was strange, so the Doctor blew some stuff up and the king was killed so his daughter took power and everything as ok again."

"So, this Doctor guy was angry with you…"

"Yeah. He get a bit… miffed. I know it was really stupid but…"

She paused again. "What he said. The way he said it."

"Got it. Unacceptable."

"I suppose. It just hurt."

"That's what people do to the ones they love."

"How profound."

"It's an old earth saying."

"Yeah, I know."

"You know, he was probably just angry because you put yourself in danger and he was worried."

"Then he wouldn't have said what he said."

"You said it yourself, he was angry. He just lost his head. I can almost guarantee, if he's the way you've described and he loves you like you do him, he's regretting it."

She smiled gently. "Thanks."

We both stared into our drinks. We sat in silence for a while. I heard the door open behind us, the hot wind blowing in against our backs. I looked around, but she didn't.

He didn't look like he belonged here either. Too tough. Looked like he knew what he was doing. More military than mercenary. It had to be him.

His eyes scanned the bar slowly, as she had done, except he was looking for something specific. Looking for her. His eyes rested on her back and then moved quickly on to me. His look darkened as we stared at each other. He didn't like other men hanging around his girl then. Didn't blame him really.

I nudged her with my elbow and she looked around. She frowned slightly as he caught her gaze.

"Stay here. Mind my drink."

She vacated her seat and headed in his direction. When she reached him he grabbed her arm but she pulled out of his grip. Their voices were low so I couldn't hear the argument but you could get the idea from watching them.

He said something to her and she turned her head away. When he spoke again her face turned angry and her head whipped back to face him. He jabbed a finger in his chest as she spoke and I could see a look of guilt creep over his face. When she was done she looked at the floor, tears that were previously unshed dripping down her face. She muttered something as she stared at the floor and he shook his head vehemently, looking shocked. He tilted her head up to face him and leaned in close, speaking softly to her, a completely different look on his face than when he arrived. She closed her eyes as he spoke and he kissed her gently. Another tear slid down her cheek and the hand that was now cupping her face wiped it away. He whispered something in her ear and she gave a little half laugh, half sob. She said something to him and he nodded, sending an untrusting glance my way before exiting the bar. She ran over to me and gave me a small smile, rubbing the remaining tears from her face.

She knocked back the last of her drink and grabbed her jacket.

"Thanks." She said to me. "Hey, what's your name?"

"Jack."

"Hmm, I know a guy called Jack. He's… visiting a friend at the moment but I'll bring him back to meet you one of these days. You'd like him, and I know he'd like you."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

The door to the bar was pushed open again and the man called the Doctor stuck his head in.

"Rose. You coming, or have I gotta go save the world by myself?"

She grinned at me and turned towards the door, moving quickly. "You? You're useless. Without me you couldn't save my mum."

"I don't think anyone could save her."

"Oi, watch it. Come on you stupid ape."

"What did I tell you?"

"Ouch. What wa…"

The door fell shut off and cut short the pairs friendly bickering. Cute couple.

I picked up my glass and returned to the table in the corner, where I'd started out. I wonder what the next good looking blonde that comes through the door will be like.

**End. **

Well, wattcha think? I know it's a little under developed and any constructive criticism will be taken into account. I plan to do a better rewrite sometime in the distant future.

Slán


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